Vehicle with a Panel that is Moveable to Provide Increased Head Room Above a Rear Row of Seats

ABSTRACT

A panel that may be raised and lowered in the rear area of a vehicle to provide added headroom. The panel may be secured to an opening defined by a roof of the vehicle. The panel may be secured to an opening defined in a tailgate of the vehicle. Side walls and a real wall may be provided that extend between the opening and the panel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/052,135filed Mar. 21, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated in itsentirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a roof for a vehicle that has a portion thatis moved to provide increased headroom for rear seat passengers.

BACKGROUND

Fastback cross-over vehicles have a slanted rear roof area that providesreduced volume in the rear area of the vehicle. These types of vehiclesmay feature shared passenger compartments and cargo areas. The cargoarea is normally accessed through a lift gate.

Cross-over vehicles may provide a third row of the passenger seats. Arear axle is normally located underneath the third row of seats whichraises the height of the floor. The third row of seats is raised withrespect to the first and second row passenger seats.

The combined effect of a slanted rear roof area and a raised floor andthird row seat magnifies the problem of reduced headroom in fastbackcrossover vehicles.

Applicants' disclosure is directed to solving the problem of reducedheadroom in fastback cross-over vehicles and other problems assummarized below.

SUMMARY

The foregoing problem is addressed by Applicants by providing a vehiclebody structure in which a rigid panel disposed in the roof or the liftgate of the vehicle is raised to create additional headroom in thevehicle.

In one embodiment, a lift gate assembly is provided for a vehicle havinga roof that is disposed above a location where a head of a passenger islocated when seated in a rear seat and a rear wall that is disposedbehind the passenger when seated in the rear seat. The roof and rearwall together define a lift gate opening that may be selectively openedand closed by the lift gate. The lift gate assembly comprises a liftgate body that has a top portion that closes a part of the lift gateopening in the roof and a rear portion that closes a part of the liftgate opening in the rear wall when the lift gate body closes the liftgate opening. A hinge connects a front edge of the lift gate body to theroof. A panel is attached to the top portion of the lift gate body andis movable between a flush position and a raised position.

These and other aspects of the Applicants disclosure will be betterunderstood in view of the attached drawings and the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cut-away view of a vehicle with a pivotal panelin the rear portion of the roof.

FIG. 2 is a left side/rear perspective view of the vehicle with apivotal panel in the rear portion of the roof shown in FIG. 1 in alowered position.

FIG. 3 is a left side/rear perspective view of the vehicle with apivotal panel in the rear portion of the roof shown in FIG. 1 in araised position.

FIGS. 4A-4C are a series of fragmentary cross-section views taken alongthe line 4-4 in FIG. 2 of one embodiment of the sidewall extendingbetween the roof and the pivotal panel in which FIG. 4A shows thesidewall with the panel lowered, FIG. 4B shows the sidewall with thepanel in an intermediate position in the process of being raised orlowered, and FIG. 4C shows the sidewall with the panel in the raisedposition.

FIG. 5 is a left side/rear perspective view of another embodiment of avehicle in which a lift gate assembly is provided with a movable panelthat is in a raised position and that has a pleated side wall extendingbetween the panel and an opening defined by the lift gate assembly.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing the sidewall of theembodiment of FIG. 5 in a lowered position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle 10 that may be of the fastback cross-overbody style has a roof 12 which slopes downwardly and rearwardly towardthe rear of the vehicle 10. The roof 12 defines an opening 14 that maybe closed or opened by a panel 16 that may be raised to provideincreased headroom for passengers. The vehicle is provided with seats 18that may be arranged in a front and middle row on the floor 20 of thevehicle 10. A rear row of seats 22 is attached to a raised floor area 24of the vehicle 10 that is raised to provide clearance for the rear axle(not shown).

The panel 16 has a front edge 26 that is connected by a pivot connector28, or hinge, to the roof 12 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. A rearwall 30 extends between the opening 14 and the panel 16. The rear wall30 is provided with a follower 32 on both sides of the panel 16. Eachfollower 32 is received in a track 34 that is defined by or provided onthe vehicle 10.

Referring to FIGS. 2, the roof 12 is shown with the panel 16 in itsclosed or lowered position. In FIG. 3, the roof 12 is shown with thepanel 16 in the open or raised position. The panel 16 moves relative tothe opening 14 defined in the roof 12. The front edge 26 of the panel 16is connected to the roof 12 by a pivot connector 28, or hinge. A rearwall 30 is recessed inside the vehicle 10, as shown in FIG. 2, but whenthe vehicle is in the open position, it extends above the roof 12, asshown in FIG. 3. The rear wall 30 is guided by the follower 32 in thetrack 34 that is shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The panel 16 includes side walls 36 that are provided on the right andleft sides of the panel 16. The side wall 36 is shown in FIG. 3 toextend from the opening 14 to a left edge 38 of the panel 16. A rightedge 40 of the panel 16 is shown, but the side wall 36 on the right sideof the panel 16 is not visible. The right side wall 36 should beunderstood to be a mirror image of the left side wall 36 on the leftside of the panel 16. A rear edge 42 of the panel 16 is connected to therear wall 30. The rear wall 30 extends from the rear edge 42 of thepanel 16 to the opening 14. A lower end 46 of the rear wall 30 is shownin phantom lines and is retained within the vehicle 10. A roof window 48and a rear wall window 50 may be provided to improve visibility andincrease light provided within the vehicle 10.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, the structure and function of the side wall 36will be described in greater detail. Referring to FIG. 4A, the panel 16is shown in its lowered position in which it is flush with the roof 12and closes the opening 14 defined by the roof 12. The left edge 38 ofthe panel 16 is attached to the side wall 36. A receptacle 52 isprovided into which the side wall 36 may be retracted when the panel 16is in its lowered position. A linkage 54 is provided to support thepanel 16 in its raised position. The linkage 54 includes an upper link56, an intermediate link 58 and a linkage support 60. Linkage 54 asshown in FIG. 4A is shown in its retracted position. A slot 62 isprovided in the linkage support 60 that receives a pin 64. The pin 64 isattached to the intermediate link 58 and is movable within the slot 62.Another slot 66 is provided in the intermediate link 58 that receives apin 68 that is provided on the upper link 56. A seal 70 is shown thatseals between the roof 12 and the left edge 38 of the panel 16. The seal70 may extend around all or part of the opening 14 in the roof 12.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the linkage 54 is shown in a partially raisedposition in which the panel 16 is in the process of being either raisedor lowered. The side wall 36 is partially withdrawn from the receptacle52. The upper link 56 is moved relative to the intermediate link 58 withthe pin 68 having been moved to the upper end of the slot 66 in theintermediate link 58.

Referring to FIG. 4C, the side wall 36 is shown nearly fully extendedfrom the receptacle 52. The panel 16 is supported by the upper link 56,the intermediate link 58 and the linkage support 60. The pin 64 that issecured to the intermediate link 58 is at the upper end of the slot 62formed in the linkage support 60. The pin 68 attached to the upper link56 is at the upper end of the slot 66 formed in the intermediate link58. In this position, the panel is raised to its fullest extent andprovides the maximum headroom for a passenger seated in the rearmost rowof seats 22, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment is illustrated in which atailgate 80 of the vehicle 10 supports the panel 82. The panel 82 ismovable relative to an opening 84 defined in the tailgate 80. One ormore panel hinges 86 may be provided to connect the panel 82 to thetailgate 80. A tailgate hinge 88 is provided to connect the tailgate 80to the vehicle 10. Hinges 86 and tailgate hinge 88 may be combined orseparately provided as shown. A tailgate opening 90 defined by thevehicle 10 is selectively opened and closed by opening and closing thetailgate 80, as is well known in the art. A rear wall 92 is providedthat extends between the panel 82 and the opening 84. The rear wall 92is provided with at least one follower 94 that is received in a track96, as previously described with reference to the embodiment of FIGS.1-3.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a side wall 100 is providedbetween the panel 82 and the opening 84. The side wall 100 includes aplurality of pleats 102 that function in the manner of a bellows wall toseal and enclose the passenger compartment when the panel 82 is in itsraised position.

As shown in FIG. 6, a hydraulic cylinder 104, or other liftingmechanism, may be provided to raise or lower the panel 82 relative tothe opening 84. The side wall 100 is secured to the panel 82 between thepanel and the opening 84. A roof, or more specifically roof rail 106 asillustrated, defines the tailgate opening 90. The tailgate 80 may beopened and closed with the panel 82 in either its raised or loweredposition. A seal 108 is provided between the tailgate 80 and the panel82 to seal the opening 84. When the cylinder 104 is extended, to theposition shown in FIG. 5, the side wall 100 expands by unfolding thepleats 102 that are formed in the side wall 100.

It should be understood that the linkage 54, shown in FIGS. 4A-4C, andthe hydraulic cylinder 104 may be interchanged between the twoembodiments that are illustrated. In addition, many other types oflinkages and panel support mechanisms may be developed to support thepanel 16 or panel 82 in its raised position. Similarly, the pleated sidewall 100 and rigid side wall 36 may be interchanged between the twoillustrated embodiments.

The panels 16, 82 may be wholly or partially formed with transparentmaterial, such as polycarbonate, plastic or glass that may be receivedin a frame or other supporting structure.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lift gate assembly for a vehicle having a roofthat is disposed above a location where a head of a passenger is in arear seat and a rear wall that is disposed behind the passenger whichtogether define a lift gate opening that may be selectively opened andclosed by the lift gate, wherein the lift gate assembly comprises: alift gate body that has a top portion that closes a part of the liftgate opening in the roof and a rear portion that closes a part of thelift gate opening in the rear wall when the lift gate body closes thelift gate opening; a hinge connecting a front edge of the lift gate bodyto the roof; and a panel attached to the top portion of the lift gatebody that is movable between a flush position and a raised position. 2.The lift gate assembly of claim 1 further comprising a pivot connectorthat connects a front edge of the panel to the lift gate body to pivotabout a transverse axis, wherein the panel covers an opening in thetailgate body in the flush position.
 3. The lift gate assembly of claim2 further comprising a right side wall which extends between a rightside edge of the panel and the opening in the tailgate body, a left sidewall which extends between a left side edge of the panel and the openingin the tailgate body, and a rear side wall which extends between a backedge of the panel and the opening in the tailgate body.
 4. The lift gateassembly of claim 3 wherein the right side wall, the left side wall, andthe rear side wall are not visible from the exterior of the vehicle whenthe panel is in the flush position and are visible from the exterior ofthe vehicle when the panel is in the raised position.
 5. The lift gateassembly of claim 2 wherein the pivot connector is incorporated in thehinge that connects the front edge of the lift gate body to the roof. 6.The lift gate assembly of claim 2 wherein the pivot connector is spacedfrom and parallel to a pivot axis of the hinge which connects the frontedge of the lift gate body to the roof.
 7. The lift gate assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the panel is a window.
 8. The lift gate assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the vehicle has a plurality of rows of seats including arear most row of seats and a pivot connector that connects a front edgeof the panel to the lift gate body to pivot about a transverse axis islocated forward of the rear most row of seats.